American Alligator in St. Leo (near Tampa), Florida: "This gator in the lake behind our house is about eight feet long. Gators are ambush hunters and avoid people. Try to avoid looking like lunch – stay away from the water's edge at dawn and dusk." Photograph: Gregory Smith/GuardianWitness

Cow sleeps on a street in Bhilwara, India: "My father and I returned to a town where he used to live in India in 1970. It's now a city and the cars, bikes and auto-rickshaws share the streets with cows and dogs. This cow catches 40 winks next to the road alongside the parked motorbikes." Photograph: scratchvideo/GuardianWitness

Raccoon kits on the back deck: "One morning, after a night of very strange animal noises outside, we woke up and saw a raccoon had had five kits on the back deck. She kept them there for five weeks (and then moved them to ground level to teach them to forage), so we saw them grow their little bandit masks, saw the stripes appear on their tails and watched them learn to walk." Photograph: Aefa Mulholland/GuardianWitness

Harris's hawks in Mexico City: "A kettle of Harris's hawks are common in Mexico City. They live on pigeons and squirrels in a large development in the south of the city." Photograph: strobi/GuardianWitness

Orphan baby opossum in Toronto: "This wee beastie would wriggle under the fence and hang out in our yard. We called her Morag. She'd show up for a bowl of cat food every morning, but was always fierce (despite being just six inches long.) She came back every day until she got too fat to fit under the fence." Photograph: Aefa Mulholland/GuardianWitness

A raccoon perched on a roof in Burlington, Ontario: "Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control encounters hundreds of species of wildlife a week. This particular raccoon was humanely evicted from the attic of this home, where it went on to an alternate den site in the neighbourhood." Photograph: SkedaddleWildlife89/GuardianWitness

Like Angels: "A hundred or so Sulphur-crested cockatoos have gathered at the local cemetery - drawn there largely by the pine trees. When they descend to the ground they look like angels." Photograph: bronski66/GuardianWitness

White stork hatching in Amsterdam: "A white stork is hatching out her eggs in Frankendael park in Amsterdam. White storks left the Netherlands few decades ago, but 10 years ago they returned and the first hatchlings were in the heart of Amsterdam." Photograph: Thomas van Linge/GuardianWitness

Meat market in Pune, India: "Our canine friends know where to 'buy' meat too! The neighbourhood strays congregate at the end of the day waiting for any scraps that might be available." Photograph: SenorSol/GuardianWitness

Cows refueling at the petrol station in Batumi, Georgia: "On a recent cycling trip through Georgia, I came across these cows spending a few hours resting in the shade." Photograph: Bredthauer/GuardianWitness

Mother and calf in Mysore, India: 'This photograph shows the bond between mother and child - demonstrating that nothing can come between them... Including people and traffic." Photograph: Srini Balram/GuardianWitness